A gendarme in Saint-Just, the village where three soldiers were killed on the night of December 22 to 23, 2020 -
OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP
Three gendarmes were killed and a fourth injured in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday in Saint-Just (Puy-de-Dôme) while they intervened to rescue a woman threatened by her companion.
The latter, who attacked the soldiers, was found dead in the early morning near his vehicle.
This 48-year-old father, who had received military training, had a whole arsenal at his side: a Glock pistol in his hand, an assault rifle equipped with a silencer, a torch and a system. laser sight and four knives on his belt.
According to the public prosecutor of Clermont-Ferrand, this sports shooting practitioner claimed to be a very practicing Catholic and was a follower of survivalism courses, convinced of the near end of the world.
“This is one of the most tragic events” in the history of the gendarmerie, according to the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin.
The toll is indeed very heavy.
Three soldiers belonging to Ambert's company were killed during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday in an isolated hamlet near Saint-Just (Puy-de-Dôme), while they were intervening to rescue a woman threatened by her companion .
This man with a disturbing profile, 48 years old, fled after opening fire on the gendarmes "with war caliber", tells
20 Minutes
a source close to the investigation.
His lifeless body was found in the early hours of the morning near his car.
It all started a little before 9 p.m., when a woman called the gendarmes.
She warns them that one of her friends has taken refuge on the roof of her house to escape her new companion, who is abusing her.
Mother of two daughters, Sandrine S. was alone with him that evening when he started hitting her in the face.
A patrol goes there.
Arrived around 9:30 p.m., the gendarmes exchange text messages with the victim, who warns them that his companion, Frédérik Limol, is armed and dangerous.
To take no risk, they ask for reinforcements.
Gendarmes from the Psig (surveillance and intervention platoons of the gendarmerie) from Ambert and Clermont-Ferrand, as well as a negotiator, set out and arrived at the scene around 10:15 p.m.
A chronology of facts still unclear
While a security perimeter is being put in place, Frédérik Limol opens fire with one of the many weapons that this sport shooting practitioner has.
Affected, three soldiers succumbed to their injuries.
They are Arno Mavel, a 21-year-old brigadier, Lieutenant Cyrille Morel, 45, and Warrant Officer Rémi Dupuis, 37.
Called to the scene of the tragedy, the Samu can do nothing to revive them.
A fourth gendarme is also affected.
Luckily, the bullet is lodged in "a small space of the bulletproof vest he wore", explains, visibly moved, the public prosecutor of Clermont-Ferrand, Eric Maillaud, during a press conference on Wednesday at the end of the afternoon.
“He miraculously survived.
"
#Hommage 🇫🇷 Lieutenant Cyrille MOREL, 45, Warrant Officer Rémi DUPUIS, 37, and Brigadier Arno MAVEL, 21, were killed last night while rescuing a woman in distress.
We will not forget them.
# Protect Yourself pic.twitter.com/Z5CpmI0nlv
- National Gendarmerie (@Gendarmerie) December 23, 2020
The sequence of events is still confused.
"It will take some time to manage to reconstruct precisely the chronology" of the facts, estimates the magistrate, who does not have "all the answers".
What is certain is that the gendarmes manage to shelter Sandrine S. while the house, set on fire by her companion, is consumed.
Frédérik Limol manages to escape in a 4x4 which will be found in the early morning hours, a little over a kilometer from his home.
It seems he lost control of his vehicle before crashing into a tree.
His lifeless body was discovered a few meters away.
According to the first elements of the investigation, he committed suicide with a Glock pistol.
He was wearing a bulletproof vest and was in possession of "an assault rifle equipped with a silencer, a torch and a laser sighting system" and four knives.
"He was extremely determined to cause carnage," said the prosecutor, who describes "a real war scene" with "hundreds and hundreds of cartridges" found on the ground.
"It's a complex crisis scene, we are far from having all the answers," he adds.
The perpetrator, who was training to become a pruner, had lived in Saint-Just "for four or five years", explains François Chautard, the mayor of this village of about 150 inhabitants.
Frédérik Limol and his partner "did not participate in the life of the town".
“We saw them maybe two or three times in town hall to ask for information, but that's all.
"Shocked", the inhabitants of Saint-Just were taken care of by the psychological unit set up in the village hall.
An "extremely worrying" profile
Frédérik Limol had, in the past, followed a "relatively short military training" and was "perfectly seasoned in the handling of weapons, unfortunately", indicates Eric Maillaud.
He notably practiced sports shooting in competition, in particular within the club of Salon-de-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône) where he lived for a time.
His profile is, according to the prosecutor, “extremely worrying”.
This "very practicing Catholic", not to say "extremist", was "convinced of the coming end of the world" and had taken survival courses.
Hospitalized, his companion has not yet been heard by investigators.
Eric Maillaud indicates that there was "no known history of domestic violence, no complaint for threats concerning the couple".
On the other hand, Frédérik Limol had been married for the first time to another woman, Catherine A. Together, they had a daughter in 2013. The divorce had taken place two years later, and a dispute had arisen between them about the payment. alimony.
"He was having a bad time of not being able to meet his daughter at his convenience", also specifies the magistrate.
The investigation, entrusted to the Clermont research section, will shed light on what Eric Maillaud describes as “criminal horror”.
Society
Puy-de-Dôme: A madman kills three gendarmes and wounds a fourth
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Clermont-Ferrand
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